..This month, the Executive Director of the American Nurses Credentialing Center provides a look at the importance of having a nursing strategic plan especially when working to create a research agenda...

..Although not every hospital will achieve the level of performance implied by the national assumptions, securing only a modicum of the potential level of cost improvement will ensure a multifold return on the investment required...

..Lessons learned are shared, including keeping the scope of the role manageable, providing documentation standards for new roles, and the leadership required of the nursing executive to implement change...